


Beyond Hope, Beyond Despair

by rainsona



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Super Dangan Ronpa 2, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Quirks (My Hero Academia), Character Development, Gen, Ill add more tags later for more chapters, School au kind of, Sibling Bonding, makoto is less boring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-08-11 13:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20154358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainsona/pseuds/rainsona
Summary: Being a hero means more than being physically strong, Makoto believes. But in a society that values being flashy and having cool quirks over everything else, a nobody like him hardly stands a chance.or so he thinks.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hiii!! im back again! I had a genius mega galaxy brain idea for an au, so here I go!! I hope yall like it! 
> 
> PLUS ULTRA BABEY!

“Makoto!! Hurry up and get out of bed, we’re gonna be late for school!"

Komaru’s impatient voice yaps through the door, clearly not understanding that her big brother has in fact, been out of bed, and is simply looking for his oh so conveniently misplaced shoes. Her quirk doesn’t exactly allow her to see through walls, but it still frustrates the older Naegi that she made such an assumption. He pulls his head out of his closet to retort back, only to hit it on a shelf out of his field of vision.

“AGH- Komaru, give it a rest!! I just can’t find my shoes!”

“That’s no excuse!”

“You want me to go to school barefoot?!”

Komaru sighs, and makoto hears footsteps back away from the door. Makoto thinks she’s already given up and has decided to go on her way to school by herself, until-

_ **“OPEN!”** _

His door shakes with a blue electricity and flies open without a problem.

“I told you not to use your quirk on my stuff! That INCLUDES my room!”

“Well, you were taking too long!” She says as she smiles sweetly, with a hint of accusation staining her tone. “I’ll help you look for them, but only this one time, you big dummy.”

Makoto frowns at the comment, but honestly he’s thankful for the bit of help. Komaru puts her hands on her hips and immediately starts scanning the area.

“Where did you last leave them?”

“Uhh, they’re the new ones, so I came and put them in here straight after I bought them.  
Wait a minute, I know that, why did I act like I didn’t?”

Komaru clicks her tongue and leans on the doorframe.  
“Why don’t you just wear the ones you have? You know, the ones near the front door? Where you know they are?”

Makoto sits on the thought for a second before admitting defeat with a sigh.  
“...Fine. I just- wanted to wear the new ones! I spent nearly 9,000 yen on them, and school’s almost over! I have to stand out somehow!”

Komaru extends a hand for him and helps him off the floor. “Nii-san, you’ve been an unlucky dork for the past three years, I doubt a limited edition pair of shoes is gonna change anyone’s mind.” She says coyly as they head over to the front door of the apartment.

“Stooooop it-“

She giggles and watches him shove on his regular old pair of maroon converse.

“But hey! At least when you’re in high school ya get to start over, so you’ll get a chance to totally redo your image! Maybe you could even try out gothic lolita!”

The two of them banter the whole way down until they reach the sidewalk.

“Soooo~”

“So, what?”

“On the topic of high school, where are you thinking of going? I saw you get some papers in the mail about some technical school near here! You gotta let me in on the deets!”

Makoto’s stomach lurches.

He’d been dodging this question around his family ever since he made the mental decision about his future career. For years now, he’s only dreamed of doing one thing, and attending only one school. The one thing that he could do with his odd quirk to help others, although some parts of him would need some extra work…  
But being a hero was what his heart was truly set on.

“Nii-San?”

“Y-Yeah??” “You were staring off into space _again,_ Cmon, answer me!!”

...He could trust Komaru.

He breathes out a puff of cold December air and stops his gait.

“I- I want to go to UA.”

Komaru’s teasing smile falls, and her eyes grow as wide as tea saucers.

“‘Makoto! Even for general studies, that school only has a two percent acceptance rate!! That’s insane!” She hisses.

“Komaru no- I don’t want to be in general studies.”

His sister's face slowly becomes something serious.

“Oh my god.  
You want to try out for the hero program, don’t you?”

All he can manage to do is a curt nod. As warm as he already feels with a coat and scarf, he can tell he’s becoming hot under the collar.  
Komaru takes a step forward.

“I know you’ve always been the helpful type, so I can’t really say that I’m surprised… but Makoto, heroes do a lot more than just- help! They fight some _really_ bad guys, and your quirk isn’t exactly suited for combat!”

He can’t deny that she was right.

“I know.  
But that’s why I just have to work extra hard!” He says with a sudden burst of courage, his words bubbling up and flying out of his mouth.

“I know that I’m average and I can’t really fight all that well, but being a hero isn’t all about- you know,” He breaks his sentence with mimed punches, “that!! What people really need right now is someone to…”

Komaru looks him in the eyes with a soft smile and finishes his thought. “Someone to give them hope, right?”

Makoto rubs the back of his head, feeling a little embarrassed. “Y-Yeah… kinda like that.”  
Komaru puts a gloved hand on his shoulder.  
“Nii-San, you’ve always been one of the most determined people I’ve known, for better or worse. It can be really annoying sometimes but honestly? I kind of like that about you! You keep me motivated to not give up easily!”

“Are you serious?”

“If I was joking, you would know! Anyway, what I’m trying to get at is basically uh…”  
She grins, and gives him a thumbs up. “If you wanna be a pro hero, go for it!! I’ll be cheering for you the whole way, okay?”

Komaru, who usually subjected him to all kinds of teasing, had given Makoto the most unexpected response for the entire situation. It was unusual, but not unwelcome.

“I- Thank you? Jeez, what’s gotten into you today, are you just feeling extra generous or something?”

She puffed out her cheeks. “Can’t I just support my big brother and his superhero dreams? Gosh, you’re so hard to be nice to sometimes!! Accept my love and affection, dangit!!”

All he can do is ruffle her hair and laugh as she complains about her hair getting messed up.

“CRAP!! Now we really have to get to school!!” She realizes as she looks at her watch.  
“Alright Makoto, if you’re gonna be a hero you’ve gotta start TRAINING!! So let’s start by doing a 2 mile dash or else you’ll have too many tardies to graduate!! GO GO GO GO!”

“I am NOT running that far-“

“DO YOU WANNA BE A HERO OR NOT? THIS IS ME SUPPORTING YOU!! LETS GO MAKO-TO LETS GO!!”

* * *

Once Komaru had decently yelled “encouragement” at him all the way to their middle school, Makoto was somehow able to make it to homeroom before being counted as late. On the down side, according to his teachers rules, the last people in class before the bell were responsible for cleaning the classroom after hours. A snide voice coming from the desk behind him whispered a remark that was for his ears only.

“Guess you’re spending some quality time with me later, Naegi!”

“Oyama…”

“Don’t worry! I won’t do anything this time! Promise!” They said, sticking out their tongue ever so slightly.

Nozomi Ōyama and Makoto weren’t exactly friends, but they did have the pleasure of being deskmates. Nozomi just did a lot of things that Makoto wasn’t exactly… comfortable with. For example, they were quite the notorious prankster. He was honestly surprised that they hadn’t been suspended by now. They were an androgynous-looking teenager with a round face, and indigo hair in a messy bi-level cut. They proudly announced that they did it themselves, although Makoto never really considered it something to be proud of. They were a strange kid, but honestly, Makoto always liked listening to their tirades about one thing or another.

In retrospect, he really enjoyed being around people in general.  
Everyone has their own story to tell, he thought, and all the differences that made everybody unique were what made other people so interesting. Unlike him, who was completely normal and average in every way. Maybe that was the reason.  
Even though he was so captivated at the thought of learning the stories other people told, he always had a hard time making friends. He figured it was because he was just completely uninteresting and was the one pushing himself out of conversation.  
It wasn’t until the teacher started talking that Makoto derailed his kind of edgy train of thought and started listening again.

* * *

The rest of the day went by smoothly by the typical routine- routines were always good- but around lunch a commotion began to fester in the left hand corner of the classroom.

Makoto put a mini sausage in his mouth, deciding not to get involved-

“DUDE! IS THAT KNOCKOUT?? THATS A HUGE VILLAIN!!”

“Why are they fighting so close to the school?”

“Isn’t that illegal?!”

Oh. Well NOW things were getting interesting. He legally had no other choice than to look.

By this point the whole class was pressed up against the window- it took him a while to push by his classmates all trying to get a good look at the scene. Sure enough, the boxing hero was going head to head with a villain that somewhat resembled... a glacier? It was a strange thing to look at, but really, in a world filled with all kinds of quirks, what the hell is strange anyway. He’s literally standing next to a girl with a dog head.  
Knockout was continually throwing punches at the icy assailant as it roared, with the semi-transparent afterimages of his fists uppercutting it’s face in verbatim. Through the glass, he could hear a “KRACK!” For every punch the hero landed. Makoto’s eyes were glued on the scene, paying careful attention to every calculated blow when the dog-faced girl to his right piped up amidst the chatter.

“It’s stopped moving!! Knockout really is the best, huh?”

He turned his attention toward the villain. It was down, having collapsed in the dust of the courtyard. His classmates erupted in applause, and he noticed the neighboring classrooms (that had opened their windows to get a closer look) elicited the same reaction.

Knockout turned toward the school from where he was standing on the ground, pushed back his sideswept olive hair, and followed through with a salute and a grin.

“Ahhh!! He’s so cool!! I wanna be just like him someday!!”

“He might be a little scary, but that quirk of his is amazing!”

“do you think I could go ask him for an autograph?”

All of these were phrases he could make out in the chorus of young hopeful voices. Makoto felt a smile break out on his face, and a warm feeling in his chest began to spread. Heroes were really the greatest, they did all of that just to protect people they didn’t even know!

To make others feel protected and safe really is the best thing you can do, he thinks.

His teachers exhausted voice broke out into the classroom without any forewarning making the boy jump a little.

“What in GODS name happened while I was gone?!”

Nozomi’s distinct tone answered his question.

“Weren’t you paying attention, sensei? Knockout started fighting a huge villain right outside the classroom! He won though, obviously.”

“My word, really? Well thank goodness for him, but the problem's been taken care of, so everyone back to your seats. I’m sure Knockout wouldn’t want to impede on your education.”

Despite the groans and protests from his classmates, they all started to sit down, except of course for Makoto. All he wanted to do really was to watch the hero finish his job. But while knockout was on the phone (presumably to call the police,) he noticed something... strange.

The villain seemed to be... vibrating?

“Naegi. Your seat. I assume you know where it is.”

“But Akari-Sensei-“

“What did I sa-?”

Before he could finish, his worn hazel eyes flashed about two shades of purple, and his expression changed into something fearful.

His quirk activated?

Makoto didn’t know much about it, but it was something about knowing things that would happen next.

He appeared to be looking somewhere far away before a hollow noise escaped his throat.

“Everybody get down.”

“Sensei?”

**“I SAID GET DOW-“ **

Before he could finish, the classroom was filled with the sound of breaking glass and a cool, icy wind cutting through Makoto’s uniform.

A sharp pain flared up on his arm that was met with a hiss, and the next moment he realized his head had hit the floor.

His eyes were screwed shut, but he only noticed this fact once he had to pry them open. The first thing he saw was chips of ice and glass scattered across the floor, and the next sensation was frantic voices of other kids in his class.

“NAEGI!”

“Dude, he’s _bleeding_!”

He was bleeding?

That’s probably what the pain in his arm was.

He felt himself being lifted under the arms and set on top of a desk by one Mary Hinamori, who proceeded to ask him if he was okay.

There were too many things going on at once, he had just now realized that something really bad had happened!! He didn’t even know what it was yet!  
But apparently he was bleeding!

He shook his head after he realized he was staring blankly and got a good look around the classroom. A few worried eyes were looking at him, others were cowering behind desks. The window looking out had been completely shattered, and in the floor and ceiling icy spirals had been impaled in the wood. One of them near where he was standing hadn’t been situated inside a part of the classroom, but was laying on its side with a red streak going from tip to base.  
He made a noise that sounded like “hnnugh?” and got a hold on his thoughts.

“W-What...?”

He took a quick look at his arm to check out the damage and his panic levels immediately elevated about 20%.

“SHIT! OH-_ SHIT!!_”

He exclaimed rather unceremoniously when he looked at the red gash where a slice of his arm used to be. Now it REALLY started to hurt.

“Naegi-kun, chill out.” Hinamori muttered. “You just got hit by a bit of ice. Put pressure on it instead of moving around so much.”

That was an understatement if he ever heard one.

“Chill out?! Is that some kind of pun because right now isn’t the time!”

Hinamori smiled (in a somewhat uneasy way) and guided his hand to his injury and showed him the proper amount of pressure to apply. She said something about “go to the hospital later,” before joining the other students filing over to the broken window. She was. A strange individual, to say the least.

And just like that, he wasn't the most interesting thing in the room anymore.

Makoto was beginning to get a little agitated with the current situation. No matter what he always felt out of the loop, and for once he wasn’t okay with it.

“Can someone PLEASE tell me what just went down??”

An answer.

“The villain Knockout was fighting exploded or something! Weren’t you there?”

“I was kind of busy getting stabbed…”

He started to wonder if knockout was okay if he got hurt like_ that _from this far away.  
Shit, was he okay??

He had to go look-

“Aah!! The mist is clearing!”

He took a few steps forward, broken glass crunching beneath his feet. His arm throbbed and the left hand holding onto it for dear life was beginning to feel a little slippery.  
That couldn’t be good.

He felt a hand rest on his shoulder.

“Naegi, lets go get that wound taken care of, Alright? I’ll walk you down to the nurse; more heroes will be here soon, so you don’t have to worry.”

While his hand was meant to be consoling, his teachers tone only succeeded in pushing his buttons more, as if he was telling him to just give up.

He shrugged the hand off.

He couldn’t tell if he was getting tired because of blood loss, or if he was just tired in general. He was tired of not doing anything.

Tired being a one-dimensional person, tired of not knowing who Makoto Naegi really was.

Up until today his whole life had felt monotonous, as if it was painted in shades of grey and brown. He had been a side character in his own life for as long as he could remember.  
For the first time, every muscle in his body was telling him to take a step forward, and he felt the hues of grey and brown starting to explode into warm amber and crimson.

It didn’t register that he was moving forward, but the deafening sound of his own heart spoke to him in loud whispers- urging him on with words of “keep going. Push forward.”

** “Bring him hope.”** It said.

He shuffled over to the broken window, ignoring the impetulant voice of his teacher telling him to "get back here." A few of his classmates looked at him with indiscernible expressions, but he didn’t care.  
Cool wind hit his face and blew his chestnut hair, and what he saw when he looked in the direction of where knockout was only cut him deeper. The young man had been pressed against the ground by a singular icy hand, and attached to that hand was the glacieresque villain, but angrier, and sharper than before. The hero struggled to get out of its grasp, but was only pressed into the earth with more force.  
A choir of voices from the other classrooms were cheering him on, but they were only white noise to Makoto.

They all blurred together into a murky din that was pushed to the back of his mind, and then felt his words leave his body with the familiar rush that came when he used his quirk.

He closed his eyes, and for once, he felt as if he was doing something right.

_ **“COME ON KNOCKOUT, DON’T GIVE UP NOW!!” ** _

A line of static electricity ran up his spine, shoulders, through his voice, and then it was gone.

His breath shaky and shallow, his eyes opened focused on knockout on the ground once more. The courtyard was a little far, but he could still make out the heroe's movements.

He watched for something, anything that would give away that it worked. A fleeting moment that felt like forever passed.

Then, as knockout’s eyes flew open and he saw his beaten body shudder, his teacher grabbed him and pulled him back by his uninjured elbow.

_ “NAEGI!_ What in _God’s_ name are you thinking!? You nearly got your arm sliced open and now you’re going to try and get hurt again? When I said “let’s go to the nurse,” it wasn’t a request.”

“I-I just wanted to-“

He jerked him out of the classroom as the rest of the students cheered, and he could hear fists breaking ice at a considerable pace from the outside.

* * *

Chalk dust tickled his nose, evening Amber sunlight illuminating the blackboard and highlighting the floating particles of dust. Everything that had happened so far felt like a dream- even the broken windows and floorboards were fixed by now.

Thank god for quirks, right?

On the topic of quirks… was what he did really… right?

Of course, nobody would really know it was him. His quirk wasn’t really the type you could see, and at least he wouldn’t get ratted out for doing something... illegal. But it was underused, he didn’t know the lasting effects or if it actually helped knockout in the end.

He scolded himself for being so self righteous-

that was stupid.

Stupid stupid stu-

“Aye ‘koto, your arm acting up again? You can take a rest and I’ll finish cleaning the boards.”

“No, Oyama im fine.”

“... Alright, you were just staring off into space for a while. Speaking of which, how’re you doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“Dude, you could’ve DIED today, and that cut looked sick-nasty! Are you that big of an airhead that you dont know what happened to you?” They said jokingly, and stuck out their tongue.

“Oh- I mean uh- yeah I’m doing better! The nurse patched me up, and the heroes saved the day so everything’s okay now. Why would I be worried?”

Nozomi pushed aside their mop and trotted up next to makoto. They inched their face closer and closer to his, their pitch black eyes pinched up in a smile.

(We’re they going in for a kiss?! He wasn’t emotionally ready for a relationship yet!!)

“I know you used that quirk of yours today.” They said in a husky whisper.

“hUAH? What? Who told you!”

“Nobody, nobody! But you know, it’s pretty easy to connect the dots when you know the guy in front of you has a voice related quirk, and after he yells at a nearly passed out pro, the guy is somehow super double ultra strong.”

A bead of sweat ran down his chin. But why? It was cold in the room. His heart was palpitating- would nozomi blackmail him or something?!

“Dude, chill, you look like I just grabbed your ass. I’m not gonna hurt you.”

A crass remark, but a right one he guessed.

They stood back up and put their arms behind their back proudly.

“I myself saw the rest of the fight, and I must say! You’ve got one hell of a quirk dude! If you ever wanted to go pro, I’m sure you could! Unlike mine which is really only good for pranks and practical scares.” They finished their monologue with a foxlike grin.

Makoto began to smile, and he looked away for a moment.

“I um… I’ve actually only told my sister this, but I _am_ planning on becoming a pro.”

“No way dude, that’s awesome!! Where you heading? Ketsubutsu? That one’s close by!”

“UA.”

Nozomi stopped. They weren’t doing anything particular at the moment, but they sure did stop it. Whatever it was.

“...UA?”

“Yeah? What’s wrong with that!”

“That’s… a really elite school, and only the best of the best get in! Plus, I heard from my cousin that the entrance exam is fighting robots- I- Naegi, are you sure? If you-“

“I know, okay!! I know it’s hard to get into! But I just- grrGGH- I’m so tired of just being another nobody! And if I feel like I can use my quirk to save people, then why the hell should I NOT go? If I fail, that’s- that’s okay! I’ll know it wasn’t meant to be, but I feel like I should at least try. Not at least- I HAVE to try.”

Nozomi only stared at him, and doubled over laughing. For a moment makoto was about to get angry, but then they spoke up.

“You are FULL of surprises, Makoto Naegi!!” They clapped three times in an attempt at applause. “I never expected you to say THAT, but ya know what? I agree!! Go for it!”

“S-Seriously??”

“Ab-so-lutely! Just promise me you won’t…”

With a crunch and a “pop!” Nozomi removed their head. Makoto jumped and squeaked in a VERY uncool way.

_ “Lose your heaaaaadddd!!!” _

“YOU HAVE GOT TO STOP USING YOUR QUIRK LIKE THAT!”

“NYAHAHAHA! Sorry! Anyway-“ they put their head under their arm as if it was a basketball, “I support you in your self discovery quest or, whatever. I would say we should hang out more but like… middle school’s almost over, and it would be awkward if we never saw each other again.”

“Maybe… but I thought we were kind of friends already?”

“More like acquaintances, but yeah!” “Cool! Um- could you please put your head back on?”

“Oh yeah totally, I can’t leave it off for too long-“

While nozomi squished their head back onto their neck and made sure it was secure with a crack, a petite woman with her hair up in a bun appeared in the doorway of the classroom.

“Naegi-San?”

“Huh? Yes?”

“You’re needed in the principal's office.”

Oh shit.

Nozomi motioned for him to go, and he followed the lady down the hallway. Komaru had after school clubs, so he wouldn’t have to worry about being late.

Hopefully.

* * *

How long had it been, 20-30 minutes? He glanced up at the clock, and it showed that it had only been 5.  
The chairs in the office were not as comfortable as they looked.

His rabbit heart wouldn’t stop pounding, he was gonna be expelled, for sure. They found out what he did, I mean who else would have a weird hype quirk like his? He was going to have to change his name and flee the country, nearly three years of being a low-key nobody without a track record and now he’s a delinquent. What if he-

“Naegi-san?”

“HUH? Y-yes?”

The same woman from earlier came out from the smaller office.

“...Come in, please.”

“R-right. Sorry.”

When he entered the room, he was expecting to see the principal, but what he WASN’T expecting was not only knockout himself, but the pro hero OVERSIGHT as well.

He couldn’t move. They were going to kill him, weren’t they?

The principal spoke up. “Naegi! Please, come sit!” He shuffled over, barely managing to squeak out a “sure.” It was more of an affirming noise actually.

He took a seat on the cushioned chair, and his eyes darted up to knockout.  
His bright pink eyes only shot back at him with a glare, his solid expression unwavering. Makoto just looked at the floor again.

“Young man, I’m sure you’re aware of the policy this school has on quirk usage during active hours-”

“I-IM SO SORRY!! I wasn’t thinking and I just wanted to help!! Things were uh- looking really bad so-“

** “Naegi.”**

Oversight spoke up, his voice clear and punctual.

“Yes sir?”

The boy felt very small.

“What you did today was certainly against the rules, but the reason why we're here today is not to give you a lecture.”

The tension in makoto’s shoulders left almost instantly. So he wasn't going to die! Neat!

The slimmer man sat down in a chair next to the principal, looking as crisp and elegant as he always did. He used his telekinesis to bring a bottle of water from a minifridge to his hands, and made eye contact with Makoto. His frigid lavender stare was enough to make blood run cold.

“Knockout here wouldn’t want to admit it, but today’s incident was quite dire from the looks of his injuries. It takes a lot to take him down, but earlier he was nearly at that level.”

“Tch, like hell I was…”

“Sakakura, please. Anyway, it came as quite a shock to the both of us when he described the strange surge of energy he felt all of a sudden.”

He might as well have said his name plain and simple.

“We could only figure it was the work of a quirk, so we got permission to look up descriptions of the students quirks here… i'm sure you can understand what we found, Makoto Naegi.”

“Uhuhn… yeah…”

Then, knockout spoke up. His arms were still crossed, but now his body was pointed in his direction.

“What was even _stranger_ is the effect it had on the villain. This is confidential information, so don’t go blabbing to your little friends about any of it. Got it?” his voice was as gruff as ever.

Confidential information? What the hell had he walked into here? Without thinking, he nodded.

“That icy guy had no criminal record, a family back at home an’ a stable job, so there was really no reason that he would go berserk at all. However… this man went missing around a week ago.”

Went… missing? The whole situation swamped together in his brain, realizing that this mess was a lot more sinister than he had thought.

“The moment you used your quirk to help, he immediately stopped tryin’ to kill me as well… almost as if he “woke up.”

Everything he had heard so far was overwhelming to say the least. All he could process was his shallow breathing.

“The point is,” oversight started, “the similar cases so far have all had the same circumstances, in terms of the assailants. We’ve been thinking it’s some kind of drug or an underground job, but none of them have stopped the off behavior post-arrest… Until you came along.”

“Me?” He said as he pointed at himself. 

“From what we gathered, your Quirk is simply called “Hope.” It’s a simple revitalizing quirk that relies on vocal stimulation. The fact that you reversed that villains behavior, however, is something to be… considered.”

“BASICALLY, What ya did was dumb as hell, but it was also pretty damn important. The hero world could use a quirk like yours.”

Did knockout really just. Say that? Holy shit he really did. Makoto felt like he was floating, but in the way where you’re so high up you can’t breathe.

“N-Naegi?”

“YES!?”

“Sorry, this was a lot to unload on you,” Oversight stood up from the chair, and the principal kept a patient smile. “but we felt as if it was only right for you to know.”

“No, no its fine!! I just- didn’t really expect that…”

He stood up quickly and punctuated with a deep bow.

“Thank you for your patience! And uh- thank you for keeping the city safe!”

“Heh, no problem kid. We shouldn’t keep ya here too long, and we both have stuff to do, so you can go home now.”

Oversight rested a hand on Knockout’s shoulder.

“Just think about what we discussed, alright?”

“Yes sir!”

Makoto almost fell over while leaving the room, his legs felt like jelly the whole way out.  
His face felt flushed, and once he closed the door (and made sure he was alone) he let out a giddy laugh.

——

“Nii-san, what’s with that dopey look you got right now? Did a girl ask you out on a date or something?”

“O-oh! Nope! No! Nothing like that!”

“Care to tell me?”

“Maybe later. But uh- let’s just say I wanna start on that hero training as soon as we can, alright?”

Komaru grinned, and firmly let her brother know that they were racing home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “NOW?”
> 
> “NOW!! The entrance exam is in February and its nearly Christmas! You don’t have to become All Might or anything, I just want you to be in your best possible condition!”

Telling his parents about going to UA was hard, but in the end they only smiled and told him they just wanted him to be happy.   
His mom and dad didn’t seem very sure of his ability to actually _do_ it, though. Nobody ever expected much of him, so it wasn’t a surprise.  
But! If his experience in the past week had taught him anything, it was that all of that was destined to change.

He was super deep in thought on his homework, (quadratic equations,) when Komaru let herself into his room.

“NII-SAN! Whatcha’ doing?”

“Geometry?“

She jumped up beside him and nabbed his composition book quicker than he could say “Gashapon.”

“YOINK!”

“HEY!! I have a test this week, give it back!”   
He fumbled to no avail and wound up falling out of his rolling chair while trying to grab the book. His sister was shorter than him, but she was much more lithe and dexterous when it came to games such as keep away.

“TODAY, I, Komaru Naegi, will be your coach!! Since I’m the captain of the tennis club, I know a thing or two about fitness! And if you want to be a pro hero, we at least gotta get your stamina up and at least SOME muscle tone!” After her proclamation she unceremoniously tossed the Campos book behind her head and poked her brother in the stomach.

“HEY, hEY QUIT, THAT- hehehe- tH-HA-AT TICKLES!!”

“Nope! I won’t stop until you get up! We’re gonna run a mile or two, do some stretches, all the good stuff!”

He pushed himself off of the floor, out of breath and tears streaming down his cheeks.

“NOW?”

“NOW!! The entrance exam is in February and its nearly Christmas! You don’t have to become All Might or anything, I just want you to be in your best possible condition!”

“Alright alright! Let me put my windbreaker on!”

“Oookay, but if ya don’t pick up the pace I’m going to poke you again!”

“You wouldn’t.”

Her face contorted into something reminiscent of when Nozomi had a mischievous prank in the works.

He began to search for his jacket faster.

* * *

He didn’t register that he fell over, he only recognized that he hit the grass.

“Cmon Nii-San! Don’t give up now! Our checkpoint is just a few meters away, you can’t take a nap in the middle of the park!!”

He was wheezing uncontrollably, the small muscles in his thighs twitching from use. While it was still cold outside he was still able to sweat profusely, and every breath of icy air he drew in only made his throat more dry.

“Komaruuu… I can’t go anymore… I need some water, or a break, anything…”

She was still running in place, (incredibly,) her short bob bouncing up and down with every step. She sighed, a cloud of her breath visible in the wintry evening light.

“Alright, we’ll take five.” She sat down in the grass next to him, her chest heaving from the exercise.

“You really have to work on your stamina! That was only a mile and a half from the apartment!”

“ONLY a mile and a half?!”

“Sorry, I forget you don’t really… work out much.”

She flopped back in the grass next to him and stared up at the sky. The blue daylight was slowly fading into the pitch black of night, stuck in the evening in a navy hue. In the West while the sun began to fall asleep, pinks, purples and oranges collided in a warm sunset.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?” She started. “Too bad we can’t see the stars. Light pollution sucks. But hey, maybe one day when you’re in the big leagues and you go overseas, you’ll go someplace like Texas! And you can tell me all about the stars there!”

Makoto stifled a giggle. “Why texas?”

_ “You know, that one English song! The stars at night, are big and bright-“_ (clap clap clap) _“deep in the heart of Texas!”_

He nearly passed out from laughing.

Komaru checked her watch. “It’s getting a little late, do you wanna head back home now? We don’t have to run the full two miles.”

He sat up on his elbow. “No, no! I wanna keep going! I have to commit! Also, why do you use miles? Isn’t that the American system?”

“It’s easier to say two miles than 3,218 meters in my opinion, thank you very much.”

“I guess I can see that.”

She stood up and Makoto followed suit, and he was ready to prove to her that he could make the last lap…   
Even if he had to take five more breaks in between.

* * *

Komaru never stopped with her bugging, and for a second Makoto started to regret asking for her help. She told him what to eat and what not to eat, made sure that he drank at least eight glasses of water a day, (including coming into his classroom in the middle of English with a water bottle for him, causing everyone to laugh.) It was almost as if she was taking advantage of the opportunity to tell him what to do.

He definitely wasn’t going to admit that he was actually feeling better than he had in years ever since he started exercising.

One day when his sister had a headache, he decided to go out on a run on his own. He didn’t realize how far he had come since he started until he noticed he had gone three miles from where they lived.  
He took a break on a bench in a nearby shopping center, and watched the people go by. Christmas was going to come soon, and that meant winter break. Winter break meant it would be even closer to the date of the exam.   
Instead of stressing out about it, he figured it would do him a world of good to enjoy what he had now. Once he started his path to being a hero, he wouldn’t get quiet moments like this anymore. The trees were strung up with lights, and children walked along with their mothers and fathers happily discussing plans for the new year. Shops were illuminated, and the smell of coffee wafted in the air from a nearby café. Businessmen were celebrating in pubs, and snow began to fall.

If this world needed someone to ensure this peace, then he would gladly take up that offer. This small corner of his life was too precious to let go.  
It was nice, finally having a sense of purpose. What was even better was that he finally felt like he existed.

* * *

School got out for winter break, and Christmas came and went. The holiday seemed like a blur to Makoto, all he could think about was that the days were dwindling until the UA entrance exam. If what nozomi said was true and the practical WAS fighting robots, he would have to think of a way to use his quirk to take out a few. His wasn’t a physical type, and a lot of other kids with those kind of quirks would definitely jump at the chance to get their points. He_ could_ ask Nozomi for advice, but he doubted that it would be good. They weren’t exactly the advice-giving type.

Whatever. He could think about it later.   
But… once he went back to school on the 6th, he would be busy thinking about school stuff again, and it was already the 2nd.  
Jesus. This was harder than it looked.

He got out of bed (where he had been overthinking for the past hour) and threw on a sweater and a pair of overalls. He announced to the empty apartment that he was going out before grabbing a jacket and taking leave.

He took a usual route that wound up at a convenience store. Komaru was super insistent on him eating well during the prep for his exam, but he was sure she wouldn’t mind him having a cheat day. The shelves were stocked as usual with a variety of snacks and meals, and colorful drinks lined up in coolers were plastered with the faces of well known pro heroes. After deciding for a while on what to get, he settled on a mini chocolate cake and a soft drink.   
He needed something sweet!  
Once he paid and started heading out the door, the quiet of everyday life got shaken by a crash and a siren. A scuffle between a pro hero and a villain had started a few stores down, and to avoid any potential flying debris he ducked back inside the store.

“What’s going on out there?” The cashier asked.

“Uh, I think there’s a villain attack? I didn’t get a good look at it though.”  
That was true. It might have just been a robbery.

“Ahhh geez, it seems like those are happening a lot more than they used to… either the pros are getting lazy, or the villains are getting ballsy. Either way, ion’ like it.”  
He was a tired looking young man with teal hair and a beanie. Makoto turned his face back outside to assess the situation, and took a tiny cake out of the package. The assailant was a catlike woman wearing a three piece business suit.

Why would a villain wear that?

Her pupils were slit and she looked absolutely feral, but if he could imagine it, she looked almost like any other lady he would see on the street.

Weird.

* * *

It was February. The exam would be this month.  
Well, later that month, but nonetheless it was soon.   
He got back from a morning run, showered, ate breakfast, all before 7 am. He waited for Komaru at the front door when he was ready to go.

“Since when did you become the early riser?”

“Hey, you’re the one who turned me into this monster! Hurry up, I can’t have my sister turning into a truant.”

She paused. “...Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“What?”

“Today is February 5th.”

“...okay?”

“Makoto, it’s your birthday.”

His heart dropped, and then rose up again...   
He forgot his own birthday.

“A-are you serious? How did I forget that!! Have I really been that worked up about this entrance exam?”

Komaru giggled and began digging through her bag. “I guess you have! You’re such a dork, but now you’re a fifteen year old dork!” She grabbed a neatly wrapped package with gold ribbon and handed it to him. “Happy birthday! It’s not much, but I figured you deserved a little something-something after how hard you’ve been working!”

A grin grew on his face. “Ah, thank you! You didn’t have to-“

“Of course I did! Now open it, open it!!”

“Now?”

“Now!!”

He struggled to pull off the ribbon but then realized it could easily be untied and let out a soft “oh.” He fumbled around with the paper, and inside of it was an olive green two piece athletic suit with dark red trim.

“Komaru-“

“I got it custom made! It matches that jacket you love so much, you know the one with the design on the hood-“

Before she finished, he wrapped her in a gentle hug.

“Thank you...”

“No problem!!” She put her arms on his back and gave him a quick squeeze. “Just figured you needed some kind of a hero suit to kick off your "new life" in, yanno?”

He backed away and set the outfit down on the couch.

“You’ve really been a huge help this past couple of months, I think this is the most time we’ve spent together like, ever?”

“Maybe so! But I’m glad I did, look at you! You’re getting up early and everything!” She put a fist to her chin and furrowed her brows in a proud expression. “My tutelage really paid off, if I do say so myself.”

Makoto shoved his hand in her face and messed up her hair playfully.

“Nerd.”

* * *

February 26th.

Exam day.

Ever since he got out of bed, makoto couldn’t stop his hands from shaking. The past three months had lead up to this, all the studying and exercise and hard work would be put to the test in just a few hours. His parents wished him good luck, Komaru have him an enthusiastic two thumbs up, and he was on his way to the train station to UA. It was a considerable distance from where his family lived, but he didn’t mind the morning commute. On his way there he tried to calm his nerves by reading the latest hero news and listening to music, but no matter what his heart only beat louder and harder.

When he arrived on campus, it wasn’t anything like he was expecting. He was expecting HUGE, but the sheer PRESENCE of the building was enough to make an average 15 year old go weak in the knees. Other examinees were already filing into the auditorium for the opening speech, and a lot of them looked more focused and ready than he did.  
He should just… turn back.   
Yeah!!  
Turn back.   
Why wasn’t he moving.

“Hey.”

An icy voice called for his attention. At least he hoped they were talking to him, it would be awkward if they weren’t.

“Me?”

He turned toward the source of the voice. It was a girl his age with cold violet eyes, and pale lavender hair tied up in a ponytail.

“You were having second thoughts, weren’t you?”

“How did you-“

“Sorry, I can’t help but pick up on these things. Anyway,” the girl started, “if you’re here, it must be for a reason. Don’t let nerves get in the way of that.”

“Uhh…”

She kept going without a word. Did she act like that around everybody she walked by?  
What a weird girl. But he wouldn’t deny that what she said… helped.

Without messing up directions too much, he found the teaching forum and scooted his way into a seat. There were NEARLY 500 kids in the same room. Would he really be able to secure a spot in the hero course? Everyone looked so interesting and promising, and here he was, completely and totally unremarkable.  
No. He shouldn’t think of himself that way. He was Makoto Naegi, and he was a hard working kid who wanted to help others and bring hope to the people who needed it most!!_ And_ he liked chocolate cake!

“Yeah! Yeah I can do this!”

He didn’t mean to say that last part out loud.

“Tch. You givin’ yourself a fuckin’ pep talk or something?”

Ohhhhhhh _great_. somebody heard him.

He looked at the seat next to him and saw a _very_ well built boy with a considerably large auburn pompadour. Jesus, was he really the same age as this guy? And was he wearing… eyeliner?

“Uhm, yeah? I guess? I wasn’t really trying to, s-sorry if it bothered you.”

He _glared._ He looked like a biker you would find in a shounen manga somewhere.

“Yeah, well try not to talk so loud next time. I’m tryin’ to concentrate here.”

Ah… so he was one of those “actually really mindful bad boy” types… All Makoto could do was squeak out an apology, boys like this guy always made him nervous, regardless of what was going on in their heads.   
There was low chatter rippling through the ante room, and he wondered when exactly the whole thing would start. He guessed it would be a rundown of the exam? He stole another glance to the biker-looking boy.  
He was actually quite handsome, he had a sharp jawline and everything.  
His arms were folded and he was slouched into his seat, and looked deep in thought. It was only a guess though, for all he knew his purple eyes could be staring off into space, or he could be thinking about lunch. Makoto felt compelled to talk to him, just to shake some nerves off, but from this guy’s reaction earlier he reconsidered the idea.

Suddenly the room went dark, and the presentation screen lit up in bright light. A high pitched cheerful voice broke through the sudden hush of voices from the speakers.

“**Gooooood morning everyone! And welcome to UA high!”**

He knew that peppy tone anywhere. A round woman with white hair in twintails wearing a sweet lolita-looking dress popped out from what appeared to be nowhere on the stage.

“Ah!! It’s Usami! I didn’t know she was a part of the faculty here!”

Usami was a newer pro who was quite popular among young girls, but she had a large presence in the media in general.

** “How is everybody doing today? Are you all pumped up and ready for the entrance exam? Love love!” **

Silence.

The scary guy next to him said something about her being “fuckin annoying.”

** “Well! In any case, let’s go over the basics of the practical exam!” **The white presentation board behind her lit up with colors and shapes big enough that they all could see.** “In this exam, all of you will be assigned to go to one of the training grounds on campus! Once you enter, you’ll have to fight one of the three robots terrorizing the city! Each one of them is worth five points, so make sure you take down as many as you can! Puhuhu!”**

On the board there were silhouettes of robotic looking creatures moving around with “5 pt” tacked above them. But what was strange was that there appeared to be one more silhouette than three there? Mayb-

“Um, excuse me?”   
A quiet voice piped up from a few seats down.

**“Yes ma’am! You, in the adorable cat hoodie!” **

A small girl with fwippy pink hair stood up from her chair.

“You said there were three kinds of robots that we have to fight, but it looks to me that there’s four there… I think.” The girl cocked her head to the side.

Usami skipped a few steps around on stage, and bunched up her shoulders as if she was excited about something.

**“Well young lady, you are certainly right! There is one more robot there! Please, allow me to explain!”**

The mystery-bot got bigger than the others in emphasis.** “These are the “zero point” robots! They’re just there as an obstacle, and they aren’t worth anything if you destroy them! It’s better if you just turn the other way. If you think you can beat ‘em, please go right ahead! But just know they won’t do anything for your total score!”** On the screen, a tiny effigy of Usami was running away from the robot.

“Ah, so it’s kind of like a video game! Thanks. I get it now.” She sat back down in her seat.

** “Now, if nobody has any more questions, please proceed to your designated exam area! Students from the same middle school have been assigned different grounds to avoid teaming up, so I’m very sorry if you were planning on doing such! Good luck everyone, please do your best! Plus Ultra!”**

Makoto looked down at the slip of paper he was given when he first walked in. Area C…   
He looked over at the guy with the pompadour, and noticed that he had the same one.

This would be interesting.

He took in a deep breath, and was ready to face the challenge that lay ahead.

* * *

Was he really ready though?

Everyone here looked so much STRONGER than he was! Sure he had been working super hard since December, but some of the people at the starting line didn’t look like middle schoolers at all!

The handsome Pompadour Guy was standing a little further down, cracking his knuckles and he had quite the scary expression on his face.

He was going to be eaten alive. He could even swear he heard someone whisper “hey, check out the shrimp.” Nobody here could’ve been nearly as shrimpy as he was, so he must have been said shrimp.   
The huge doors to the fake city were still closed. UA really did like to take their sweet time…

**“Why are you guys just standing around?”** Usami’s high pitched voice flowed from the speakers.

“The doors are closed, bro!”

“W-we um… can’t get in…”

** “What do you mean! Doors are meant to be opened! There’s no such thing as a closed door here!!” **

And with those words, everyone understood what she meant.   
It was CHAOS.   
**“GO! GO! GO!”**

The stampede of candidates was overwhelming, everyone was clawing their way into the false city, desperate to get a taste of that destruction.  
Makoto was squished in between the other trainees, but he pushed and pushed his way through the sea of people. His feet ground into the dirt and got in front of the general chaos. His senses turned on with lightning speed and had to focus on what to do next. What to do next, however, was to take down as many robots as he could, and _already _there was visible destruction. 

The machines were a LOT bigger than he thought they would be.  
Pompadour Guy had split into 10 Pompadour Guys and they were using teamwork and brute strength to blast through the metal assailants. A small girl he didn’t recognize was running in between the legs of them on another side of the city, and they short circuited and crashed with just a touch of her hand. A girl with technicolor hair took in a deep breath and let out the most unsettling and sharp heavy metal scream he had ever heard, stopping the robots in their tracks.

Everyone was… better.  
Everyone else had better quirks than he did, and they could all do _something._ The explosions, crashes and sounds of scraping metal overwhelmed him, and he couldn’t move.  
He couldn’t breathe. He was trembling, and nothing made sense at all.

Oh god.   
He was going to fail.

A huge explosion close by demanded his attention and he let out a yelp in surprise as a panel of olive green metal skidded and landed by his feet.  
Two and Two suddenly got put together in his brain, and instinct took the wheel. He grabbed the panel by a cable and slung it over his back, and dashed as fast as he could. With all the might he had in his small body, he slammed the panel into any robot he came across until they stopped trying to kill him. He wasn’t even there at the moment, the adrenaline was pumping through his veins and pushing him forward. All he knew was that his arms hurt, and the breaking of metal parts was playing in a consistent rhythm. He counted seven. It wasn't enough. He had to find more, he had to break enough. He had to _be_ enough.

And then he noticed that a student next to him was running… the other way?

And someone yelled “HOLY SHIT!”

He came back to earth and felt a bead of sweat roll down his cheek. His breath was heavy, and he frantically looked around at the commotion.   
Nobody was nearby.   
He looked down the street, and a huge shadow loomed over him and covered an entire block.

The zero point villain.

It was the same make as the other ones he had broken so far, except for the tiny detail of, well, _i**t was the height of a fifty story building.**_

Usami’s words echoed in his head.  
**“It’s better if you just turn the other way.”**

He turned around to leave, but something told him to take one last look.

A lump of concrete near the scene of shaped oddly like a human being began to stand up and run away.

Wait- what?

As the robot came forward, it stepped into a building and began knocking off debris, and the rest all happened in slow motion.

A chunk of building wall fell, and landed squarely onto the head of the concrete-person causing them to collapse, and blood spurted from the contusion. As they fell, the concrete texture peeled away and disappeared, leaving the visage of a girl with thick blonde hair tied into twintails.

She was out cold, and the robot was coming her way. More importantly, she most DEFINITELY had a concussion.

She needed help.

Nobody was going to help her, nobody was around, and she was all alone.

Nobody was around, except for Makoto.

He kept on running and went to her side, despite the imminent danger ahead. Kneeling down, he slid his arm behind her neck to elevate her head. He grabbed her behind the knees and used whatever remaining strength he had to lift her up and carry her away from the scene. The metal panel was still slung on his back and was bouncing against his spine, but he didn’t care. He had more important matters at hand.

More debris began to fall, and he didn’t know what to do if it would hit the two of them. It was getting more and more consistent and closer by the second, and he could feel small pieces of rubble landing on the back of his head.

And then, the idea came to him.  
He crouched down on the ground and shielded the girls body with his own, and pulled the metal sheet over their bodies.  
He thanked his quick thinking, because half a second after he did so, a huge chunk of broken building hit the sheet. He closed his eyes, and he focused on their breathing.

She was breathing normally, which was a good sign.

Suddenly the sound of a buzzer shot through the arena- and everything stopped. The girl let out a small whine in pain, and he felt her unusually long eyelashes flutter against the side of his head. He sat up and looked around, and the announcement that the exam was over was barely audible over the blood roaring in his ears.

He looked at the girl in his arms who was now conscious, but she was still disoriented…  
Was she okay? She had a massive gash on her head that stained her platinum blonde bangs a brownish-crimson color.

“Nmnng? What… is the exam over?”

Oh god- He just realized he was holding a _girl_ bridal style.

What if he made her uncomfortable!! God, Makoto, you should’ve asked!! Blood rushed to his cheeks and his face grew a few degrees hotter.

“AH! I-I’m sorry!! You were hurt, and-“

She still seemed very confused, but he was still embarrassed. A facilitator ran up to him and asked that he give her to him to receive medical attention. He was still a blushing mess, and he awkwardly put the half-awake gyaru girl into his care.

...A lot of people were staring. He covered his face and sat down, and then the crash from the recent excitement came onto him like a tidal wave. He fell backwards and landed on his back, and every part of him trembled with overuse and the post-panic mode rush.

Apparently he passed out because the next thing he remembered was waking up in the nurse's office. A stout old lady gave him a piece of candy for his trouble and sent him home.

The train ride home seemed… empty.   
He could hardly think about what had happened.  
He didn’t know if he passed or failed, all he knew was that he tried his best.   
His best probably wasn’t enough.

His body was sore, and his hands were raw from holding that heavy panel. All he wanted to do when he got home was sleep.  
He still had to take the written exam tomorrow. His score on _that_ might be a little better. A wish for the best remained in his heart, but most of all he was scared. He was _terrified._  
He felt like he had staked everything on this test, and he couldn’t even find it in him to believe that he did a good job. All he could think of was that he had only been mediocre, like everything else he had ever done.

He was used to being mediocre, so why was the thought of doing the same under these circumstances twisting his stomach so much?

The consistent movement of the train over the tracks through the city lulled him into a half asleep state, distracting him from the swirl of feelings plaguing his mind.

* * *

“‘Koto?”  
A soft knock rapped on his door.

“You can’t stay in your room forever, mom and dad are getting really worried about you…”

Komaru’s voice was concerned, and he couldn’t blame her. Since the exam ended, all he did after he got home from school was go to his room and go to bed. The exam had made him exhausted, physically and mentally.  
Maybe he was overthinking, but the anxiety that he “didn’t do enough” wouldn’t leave him alone. He had felt so sure about going to UA for years, but now that he actually took a chance at it he started second guessing if he was ever meant to be a hero in the first place.  
He was hungry.

His body shuffled to the door, but he wasn’t there mentally.   
He walked past Komaru, not making eye contact with her, and went into the kitchen. He grabbed a yogurt from the fridge and began to eat it absentmindedly. He heard the front door close and only noticed a little while later that Komaru had left.

He felt his phone buzz, and took a glance at the screen. It was a message from an unknown number, and he read the text gingerly.

_ “Heya! This is Nozomi! I got your number from your sister! (^○^)”_

Ah?

_“You okay dude? You’ve seemed pretty out of it since Monday… (*´Д｀*)” _

That was nice of them, but he didn’t have the energy to respond right now. He put the phone down on the table and rested his cheek on his hand.

And then, suddenly-

“MAKOTO!!”

He jumped. “HUEGH?!”

“THE LETTER! YOU GOT A LETTER FROM UA!!”

Komaru was waving an envelope with a red seal wildly, and she bounded over to where he was sitting.

“OPEN IT! OPEN IT!!” His heart jumped and landed in his stomach, and a wave of anxiety hit him _hard._

“N-now?”

“NOW!”

With shaky hands, he took the envelope from his sister. He tried to undo the seal, but it was shut incredibly tight. He pulled hard at the paper, and without warning it ripped apart. A small metal disc popped out and landed on the table.

“Huh?”

Out of the blue, a holographic screen appeared from the disc.

** “Greetings, Makoto Naegi!! Love Love!” **

“Oh!! Usami! I love her! I didn’t know she worked at UA!”

Of course Komaru liked her.

**“I’m here to tell you about all the results from your entrance exam! So buckle up tight, and stay tuned in!” **

The screen started playing footage from the mock city. It was the first time he had seen what he did then, much less thought about it, and he wasn’t going to lie-  
he looked pretty cool.

**“You showed incredible ingenuity and quick thinking during the test, using part of a robot to destroy the rest! You didn't use your quirk the whole time! I’m very proud of how hard you worked!”** Her voice chimed.

“That’s YOU? Nii-San, you’re a BEAST!”

“Shsh! It’s not over yet!”

** “However… you didn’t score enough attack points to reach the benchmark required.”**

Oh.

His chest twisted into a tiny knot and he felt his hopes shatter.

He really was mediocre, huh?

**“But wait! That’s not the end of the story!” **

The glimmer of hope that he thought he had lost… returned. It was small, but his heartbeat picked up with surprising speed.

**“UA doesn’t just tally points from destruction! That isn’t the essence of being a hero at all! To truly be a hero is to win AND save! What really impressed us was how you acted once the zero point robot showed up!” **

The scene began to play out in front of him in flashing color.   
The girl who went unconscious after getting hit in the head.   
Everyone else running away.   
Himself, doing what he never thought he would be able to do a year ago.  
Him risking his own safety to make sure this girl he didn’t even know was okay.

** “Makoto Naegi, along with your 45 attack points, for your heroic actions in saving Miss Enoshima, you’ve earned yourself a whopping _95 rescue points!”_**

He couldn’t breathe. He was FLYING.  
All he could do was sit there slack jawed as all of his systems kicked into overdrive from pure elation.

The board of the top trainees showed up on the screen. He himself sat comfortably at number _three_, right in between two people named Akane Owari and Mondo Oowada at numbers four and two.   
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

**“Congratulations, Naegi-San! And welcome to the Hero Course! We hope to see you on the first day this April!”**

Just as quickly as it appeared, the holographic screen vanished. Komaru squealed in delight and threw her arms around his neck, and he was sobbing out of pure joy.

“I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!! Look at YOU, YOU TOTAL SUPERHERO BADASS!!”

He did it!! He actually did it!!   
For once in his life he felt real and seen, and genuinely happy!   
He was going to the school of his dreams, and all he could do was grin in delight.

Everything felt wonderful and light, and full of hope.

He hoped that the future would hold this same hope he felt right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello everyone! I just wanted to say thank you for all the nice comments on the first chapter of this fic! I have huge plans for this au, and I hope that I can keep it going! Your encouragement has been super helpful so far, and I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as well!   
also, Komaru and Tennis- I dunno, she just seems like the kind of girl to play tennis.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He waited in front of the door on edge.   
What would his classmates be like?   
These people would most likely be his friends forever, and his possible coworkers when they grew up.   
He hoped they were at least decent people.

When the news got out that Makoto had made it into UA, it was like he became a celebrity overnight. 

Thanks, Nozomi. 

The way it went was that he told them the news over text the night he got his acceptance letter, because he figured hey, they had some sort of relationship going on!

Nozomi only responded with a “JSJAJZHSBSBHSG” and nothing else. The next day when he walked into class, they ran to the front of the room, grabbed his hand and loudly announced to anyone who would listen that “NAEGI GOT INTO THE HERO COURSE AT UA!!”

All of his classmates started swarming him and asking a million questions all at once, but all he could do was blush, smile, and awkwardly give a “yeah!” or an “uhhng?”

It was nice feeling seen, but the popularity didn’t feel genuine. It didn’t really matter though, because for the remainder of the school year he was practically glowing with joy. Whenever he got any paperwork in the mail from UA, he never saw it as a chore to complete- It only made him more excited.

With every form pertaining towards “costume measurements,” “support items” and “dorm arrangements,” reminded him about how real it all was. The others at his middle school would talk about him in the hallways, mostly about how strange it was that a “plain looking guy like Naegi” could get into such a prestigious school. An underclassman even came up to him at the end of the day and told him that he had inspired her to try out for the hero course too, and proudly showed off her plant growing quirk to her senpai. Komaru proudly bragged to anyone who would listen that she was the one who trained him to be so great, and if they wanted to be as cool as  _ him _ then they should talk to  _ her. _

The remaining months until April came went by in a flash. On the last week of school his UA uniform came in, and he spent an hour admiring himself in the mirror with it on. The sleeves were a little big on him, (he was a lot smaller than most boys,) but he didn’t really mind. It was soft, and the jacket had a navy silk lining with his name in kanji embroidered on the hem of the neck. 

He graduated from middle school on a rainy Saturday, but the gloomy weather never deterred his elevated mood. His mom and dad congratulated him with beaming faces, and his sister gave him a playful (yet hard) punch on the shoulder. Leaving the middle school felt like a rite of passage- a closing of one chapter and the beginning of the next.

He had a long weekend before his first day of high school, and it gave him plenty of time to prepare. The whole time he was practically on a caffeine buzz and couldn’t sit still, and once he completely organized his room, belongings, and extra sheets to take when he moved into the dorms, laid out all the necessities for the week AND packed his backpack, he was  _ still _ itching for things to do. Electricity crackled in his nerves and kept him alight like a firecracker about to go off. 

On the first day, he was up and moving at 5:30 am. He already had everything ready by 6, so he decided to make breakfast for the rest of his family. 

Toast and Eggs it was! 

He always found the English word for egg to be funny, because it kind of sounded like his name. 

Nae-Eggy. Makoto Eggy? 

His mom gave him a kiss on the forehead and got a picture of him in his uniform before she left for work, and his dad gave him a Fatherly Noogie, and he sighed dejectedly when the weird angular cowlick he worked so hard to get to stay down popped right back up again as a result of paternal affection. He stood at the door and waited for Komaru, because it was  _ her  _ first day of school too and he wanted to see her off. 

It was all grins when they left the house, and his sister poked fun at how bouncy he was. He couldn’t help it, really, could you blame him?

He took the train ride all the way to campus, and on the way a few commuters noticed his uniform and asked about the school. He forgot that UA was practically famous, and he was technically kind of a big shot now… he explained that it was only his first day and he couldn’t say much about it other than he was excited, to which a few kind passengers wished him luck. 

Once Makoto arrived on campus for the second and first time, he skipped to the steps that lead to the entrance. He picked up his student id, a map, and he got a good look inside for the first time. The halls were wide open and cobalt blue with red and golden accents, and gratuitous staircases lead up and down and all around the building. Light streamed in through the windows that made up all of the walls, and he would’ve loved to look more, but it was already 8:48. 

He followed the directions he was given to class 1-A. 

He waited in front of the door on edge. 

What would his classmates be like? 

These people would most likely be his friends  _ forever _ , and his possible coworkers when they grew up. 

He hoped they were at  _ least  _ decent people. 

One last breath, and makoto opened the doo-

“THIS IS A VIOLATION OF SCHOOL RULES! PLEASE DO NOT SIT ON THE DESKS, IT’S NOT CONDUCIVE TO A LEARNING ENVIRONMENT!”

“HUUUH? And the fuck’re you gonna do about it, loudmouth?! Ya ain’t the hall monitor or nothin!”

Pompadour Guy!! 

A boy about his height with close cropped black hair and crimson eyes was berating him for sitting on a desk, and he looked like he was... crying? A girl with auburn hair pulled up in a high ponytail was laughing as the scene unfolded in front of her, her fins on the side of her head moving as she did. 

“I MIGHT HAVE TO REPORT YOU TO THE AUTHORITIES! THIS IS A VERY PRESTIGIOUS SCHOOL, YOU KNOW!”

“Oooooh, I’m  _ sooooo  _ scared. I’m quaking in my Gucci leather boots.”

“YEAH, get him!!”

Another girl close by with jet black twin drills stifled a giggle with her hand in a very ladylike fashion. 

“Uhhh…”

Suddenly, all the commotion stopped as everyone realized a new student had entered the room. 

Many pairs of multicolored eyes were now directly on him. 

“I-I’m uh, Makoto Naegi! It’s nice to meet you all!”

Well, that was. Awkward. Good job Makoto! You tried your best!

The girl with fins jumped up from her seat and went to greet him. “Oh my gosh, hi!! Thank goodness, I’ve started a bet with Celeste right here and I need a third opinion and nobody will give it to me! I’m Aoi Asahina, by the way!”

She pulled him over by the arm VERY jarringly to the part of the room where they were all collected. 

This was all news to him. A bet? Was that even allowed here? What a strange way to introduce yourself! 

“Wait- what exactly are we betting on?!”

The poised girl who was identified as Celeste joined in the conversation. 

“Whether or not those two will get into a full on fight or not. I doubt that the smaller one would allow such unruly behavior on his part, but Hina thinks otherwise.”

“THEY'RE MEN!! They solve all their problems with their fists!”

He was suddenly thrown for a loop. Did they even know their names, or did the girls just see two guys getting angry at each other and immediately start placing bets? 

“Jeez, y’all need to calm down. It’s nine in the morning, why do you two have so much energy already?” Said a sleazy voice with a lilt of an American accent. Makoto turned around to see a fiery redhead with numerous piercings leaning on the side wall. Pompadour Guy narrowed his eyes at the redhead. 

“Tch, who YOU telling to calm down, punk?!”

Makoto wanted to see if he could diffuse the situation, so he turned to the cause of the commotion. 

“Hey, uh, you sat next to me during the entrance exam! I really like your hair! What’s your name?” 

It wasn’t a lie, his hair WAS very cool. 

The larger boy glared daggers into his soul for what seemed like forever before crossing his arms and releasing the tension in his shoulders. 

“The name’s Mondo Oowada. Nice to fuckin’ meet ya.”

“AND I’M KIYOTAKA ISHIMARU! PLEASE REFRAIN FROM SITTING ON THE DESKS LIKE OOWADA-KUN HERE, NAEGI-KUN!”

He nervously smiled and began looking around the room. The only other person he recognized was the small girl from the entrance exam. She was keeping to herself at her desk and typing away at her phone. Makoto wondered what kind of quirk she had? During the test, she had taken out at least seven of the test robots with ease. 

All the others he didn’t know. A heavyset boy with a comically round stomach and circular glasses was talking to a taller guy with dark skin and dreadlocks about some TV show, and a girl with braids sat by herself in the corner of the classroom reading a book. He decided to take an empty seat near a very strong looking girl with white hair. 

Why was everyone here so beefy? He bet that if the small girl on her phone wasn’t wearing long sleeves that even  _ she _ would have some kind of muscle. He took another look at the girl next to him. She had scars on her face and her brow was perpetually furrowed, and to him she resembled some kind of an ultimate martial artist. She noticed that he was looking at her with a turn of her eyes, and Makoto looked back at his desk as fast as he could. He didn’t mean to stare, but he couldn’t deny that she was very impressively built and hard to look away from. 

“Hello.” 

Even her voice sounded strong.

“Uh, hi! I’m sorry, is it okay to sit here?” He still didn't make eye contact with her as he squeaked out a sentence. “I-I’m sorry for staring at you…”

“It’s alright. I’m used to being looked at. I don’t exactly look like an average teenage girl, as you can probably tell.”

“True! But n-not like that’s a bad thing or anything! I think you look super cool, like a pro wrestler or something!”

She cracked the slightest intention of a smile. 

“Thank you… Naegi, was it?”

“Yeah! Makoto Naegi! And you are?”

“Sakura Ōgami. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

His nervousness dipped in an instant. Instead of feeling intimidated by Sakura, the feeling changed to admiration and security. He felt as if he was ever in a pinch, she could protect him! 

While he was arranging his messenger bag on the back of his chair, another girl entered the classroom along with a very tall boy. The first thing he noticed about  _ both  _ of them was that they were both _ incredibly _ pretty. The boy, a blonde with long legs and glasses had a stoic expression on his face and a gold button on his tie. One look at him told makoto that he meant  _ business.  _ He didn’t say anything as he took a seat near the front of the classroom, eliciting some stares, but what he really noticed was that the girl with braids peeked up from behind her book for the first time since he walked in. The girl, on the other hand, looked like the kind of girl you would see on stage at an idol concert. She had a sweet smile on her face and a pink clip in her long silky hair, and when Asahina waved with a “HEYY,” she returned the greeting and went over to introduce herself to the other ladies. 

His heart began to pound. He knew he liked boys and girls, but this was a little unfair! 

Mondo and Kiyotaka had stopped fighting for the time being, (and Asahina begrudgingly handed Celeste 2000 yen,) and the latter had begun giving introductions to the new members of the classroom. He heard the pretty girl mention the name “Maizono,” but he couldn’t hear the rest over the conversation going on next to him. 

“I’m telling you, season three was obviously the best! It peaked in terms of writing and animation, and everything else went downhill!! Mister Hagakure, you're a fool for believing season  _ five _ was better!”

“WHAAAAT? Dude, it was the final season!! It was bittersweet and it wrapped everything up nicely! I’m not a guy for sappy stuff, but that ending made me cry. I never cry!!”

Makoto wanted to join in and ask what exactly they were talking about, but they seemed to be  _ very  _ into it and didn’t want to interrupt. 

The redhead appeared to be flirting with the pretty girl who he assumed was named Maizono, and it appeared that she didn’t reciprocate. It was all very “high school-esque,” if there was any other way to describe it. 

Even though he wasn’t involved with any of the conversation, he didn’t feel lonely or on the sidelines of his own life like he did in middle school. Just being a part of the class made him feel included and happy. 

“O-M-G, it’s YOU!” 

You? Him? 

He looked up to the door to the classroom to see the source of the noise, and lo and behold, it was the blonde girl he had saved from the entrance exam. She had heavy makeup on, a bow in one twintail and a bunny clip in the other, and was pointing right at him with fingers embellished by red acrylic nails. 

“Me?”

“YOU’RE the guy who saved my ass from getting squished by that robot! I’d recognize that boring face anywhere!”

Boring...

Hagakure paused his conversation with the nerdy boy and became interested in current affairs. 

“Wait, this guy did what now?” He inquired with a jut of the thumb in Makoto’s direction. Everyone was fixated on the new girl now as she gestured wildly with her hands while telling the “heroic” story. 

“That guy!! Umm, Noemi or whatever, in entrance exam I got bonked on the head by a rock and got mega concussed!! I nearly died, no joke!! But he picked me up  _ princess style  _ and carried me to safety!!”

When she dramatically swooned at the end of the sentence, he blushed and put his face in his hands. The others who were listening in had gravitated to his seat and had heard the whole thing. It was kind of hard not to, she  _ was _ kind of loud.

“WHAAAAAT! Wait, YOU were the one with ninety-freakin-five rescue points on the leaderboard, weren’t you!” Asahina leaned in closer and then looked up at Sakura. “He’s the real deal!! I had to use my shark teeth to pass… I tasted metal for days afterward!!”

“The true mark of a hero is not just physical strength, but strength of the heart as well.” Sakura added. 

The other girl only gave her a toothy smile. “From the looks of it, you’ve got plenty of both! I’m Aoi Asahina, by the way!” 

Makoto could’ve sworn he saw the slightest blush on their cheeks. They were going to be good friends, he could already tell. 

“Dude, that’s sick!” The fiery boy put a hand out to shake and winked. 

“The name’s Leon Kuwata. Lookin’ forward to kicking villain ass with ya!”

He tentatively shook his hand and then looked at the dramatic blonde. 

“Ah! I never got your name! I guess that would be a nice thing to know, considering our history.”

“Oh where are my manners!” She struck a pose and did a peace sign over her right eye. “JUNKO ENOSHIMA! The future fashionista superhero who’s gonna take the world by storm! Nice to meet you, Nice Guy Naegi!”

The small girl from earlier had put her phone away and was in the collective group now, her interest piqued. Just as she was about to ask a question, a new voice entered the classroom. 

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

The voice had a cool tone to it, and he could’ve sworn he heard it somewhere before. When Asahina moved out of the way, he was able to see a familiar face staring back at him, violet eyes and all. 

She didn’t waste any time standing around, and just as quickly as she arrived she took a desk adjacent to Celeste.

“You guys should start sitting down, the teacher won’t like it if you guys are all out of order.”

Leon crossed his arms and his face contorted into a pout. “Oh yeah? Why’re YOU speaking for the teach anyway? You got some nerve coming in here and acting like you own the place.”

She narrowed her eyes and didn’t say another word. Leon acted like he won an argument (which Makoto wasn’t so sure that he did,) and an awkward silence fell on the classroom. 

“KUWATA-KUN! YOU SHOULD NOT TREAT OTHER STUDENTS WITH SUCH DISRESPECT! SHE WAS ONLY TRYING TO MAINTAIN ORDER IN THE CLASSROOM!”

“C’mon dude, she just came in here and acted like she ran the show! I had to say something!”

“It’s fine, you two. I don’t mind.”

He wasn’t sure what he was seeing, but a second later a broad shouldered man with slicked back dark hair walked briskly into the classroom. 

“Good morning everyone! Everyone please find a seat, I’d like to get things started as soon as possible.”

“Are you-“

“The teacher? Yes, Kuwata-San! I am! Please refrain from any other interjections, I’ll answer all your questions in the next few minutes.” 

Leon stood with his mouth agape and quickly sat in a random seat on the front row. Everyone else shuffled into place without further ado. 

The man clapped his hands once and rolled up the sleeves of his white button down shirt. He quickly grabbed a piece of chalk and began writing his name in both English and in Kanji on the blackboard. 

“My name is Jin Kirigiri. For the rest of your time here at UA academy, I will be your homeroom teacher and the curator of your academic affairs in heroics.” 

He was a blunt and matter of fact teacher, but Makoto was actually quite pleased that he would be having someone normal instead of someone over the top like Usami. 

“U-um, excuse me?” piped a tiny voice from the center of the class. 

“Yes, Fujisaki-San?”

“I heard that all of the faculty here is pro heroes, but… I don’t recall hearing your name anywhere in the news  _ or  _ tv… are you an underground hero like Eraserhead?”

Her name was Fujisaki! It was kind of fitting for someone like her! 

But back on topic, the name “Kirigiri” was very vague in his mind, as if it was a mere blip in his recollection of hero names he had heard over the years. 

“Well, yes and no! I work mostly with detectives and private eyes, but I do have a hero license. I’m more of a behind the scenes man, but don’t worry. I’m more than qualified to teach you kids.” 

He scanned the room to get a look at everyone’s faces. Most of them were neutral or excited, some generally displeased. The girl with lavender hair and the icy gaze didn’t appear to have any of those;

It was practically unreadable. 

“Ah! I see! Thank you.” Fujisaki responded. 

Kirigiri gave her a quick smile and stood facing the students. 

“Now, everyone put on your P.E. Uniforms! We’re going to have a quick test- don’t worry, it’s just to see where you are at the moment.”

Maizono looked appalled. “Wait, now? We’re going to miss orientation! And it’s only the first day!”

“That’s precisely why we’re going now! I have to get the chance to know the abilities of my students, what better time than the present? I’ll be waiting in the courtyard, I expect to see you all there in ten minutes sharp.” 

And without another word, he left the room in a whirlwind. 

“Ugh, what a weirdo, He’s a-already bothering me! Do we s-seriously have to deal with him for the whole year?” 

The quiet girl with braids who Makoto didn’t know the name of yet finally decided to be vocal about her distaste. How convenient. The pretty boy wrinkled his nose as if he had smelled something awful. 

“Of course we do, it’s just his way of running the classroom. Like it or not, we have to deal with it. I’d suggest keeping your mouth shut.”

The girl winced and grumbled at his words. Asahina bounded over to near where her original seat was and pumped her fist up in the air. 

“Come on you guys, don’t be like that!! This is our first  _ real _ training session, so let’s give it everything we’ve got!”

“ASAHINA, YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!” Ishimaru responded. “UA EXPECTS A LOT OF US FUTURE HEROES, EVERY DAY SHOULD BE TREATED LIKE A NEW CHALLENGE!” 

The two of them were ecstatic, their enthusiasm only bouncing off of each other. While everyone else began filing out of the classroom to the locker rooms behind Hina and Ishimaru, Makoto overheard Fujisaki and Maizono discussing how excited they were to see everyone else’s quirks. The rest were relatively silent, only a few awkward murmurs breaking through. None of them really knew each other that well at the moment, so there wasn’t much to talk about. His teacher was indeed a little strange, but he was sure he would grow to like him in due time. 

——

Naegi threw on his gym clothes with lightning speed and as of now, was the only person outside. The blue, white and red uniform branded with the UA insignia was made of a light and comfortable fabric and he was toying at the hem, slightly nervous. He didn’t see Kirigiri-Sensei anywhere. 

“HEYYYY NAEGI!” 

He turned around to see Enoshima along with Maizono waving at him from the back exit, both in matching uniforms. 

“Enoshima! Hey! Have you seen Kirigiri-Sensei anywhere?”

“Nah, professor hot stuff just kinda disappeared.” Her large twintails had been tied into a single ponytail and her hands were placed firmly on her hips. Maizono looked the same, but she only stood next to her smiling sweetly. 

“BUUUT!! Maizono and I were having a lil’ chit-chat and APPARENTLY you two have a bit of a history! Gossiiiiiip!” 

A faint blush spread on the other girls cheeks. “I-It’s nothing like that! But um, hey, Naegi, I was thinking that you looked kinda familiar, and then I realized! You and I went to the same middle school in our second year there!” 

Naegi blinked and like a flash of electricity a memory resurfaced. A glint of sapphire eyes and navy blue hair in the hallways of Aldera Middle School made him gasp in recognition and he pointed at the girl in question with surprise. 

“OH MY GOSH!! Sayaka! Sayaka Maizono!! I can’t believe I didn’t notice it when you walked in earlier! You were so popular when you went there, I can’t believe that  _ you  _ recognized somebody like me…” 

She giggled and put her hands behind her back. “Of course I recognized you! When I was younger I always thought you were kinda cute! But hey, isn’t it amazing that we’re gonna be in the same class at UA now?”

Makoto’s face and neck grew hot. She called him  _ cute.  _ A girl called him  _ cute!! _

He covered his face with his hands so he wouldn’t embarrass himself more. 

“Y-Yeah!! It’s pretty uh, Cool!!” 

Junko cooed and Maizono lightly shoved her shoulder. He wasn’t gonna be able to focus now. 

“YO!!”

All three of them whipped around to see Leon, Fujisaki and Asahina with Asahina leading the way. 

“HI GUYS!! What’s going on!!”

Junko snickered. “Naegi has a crush on Maizono!” 

The other girl furrowed her brows and told her to leave him alone, but now that Hina was in on it it wasn’t going anywhere. 

“Aww, Naegi, that’s so cute!! I can see why, Sayaka-Chan is super pretty!!”

“Stooooopp it!! I don’t have a crush on her and I’m not  _ cute!  _ My cheeks are way too round and I have this weird cowlick on top of my head!! I look like an acorn!”

He mentally told himself “what the fuck are you even saying?”

Leon had his hands behind his head. 

“Acorns are pretty cute dude, and you give off a “soft boy” kind of vibe. Girls dig that! Live it!”

Fujisaki looked a little uncomfortable with the conversation but laughed anyway. 

He was probably still blushing but he tried his best to change the topic. 

“Hey, uh-“

“Oh! Fuji! Why weren’t you in the girls locker room? Did you go change in the bathroom or something?”

Thanks Junko. 

She jumped a little and her face became a little pink. 

“I-I uh, yeah, I had to use the restroom before I left s-so I changed in the bathroom… y-you know, since I was already there!”

“Chin up babydoll, it’s okay! You aren’t in trouble!” Junko winks. “I was just curious, that’s all!”

“I-I’m sorry…”

Was she going to cry? 

She and Ishimaru would get along nicely… 

Sayaka knelt down to her height and gave her a quick side hug. 

“I know we just met, but us girls have to stick together, okay? Don’t be sorry!”

She nervously smiled and wiped at her eyes. “O-okay! I’m a little uh… I’m not that strong, but I’m really hoping that being in the hero course will help me be more confident!”

Hina joined in the hug. “YEAH!! We’re gonna get SUPER TOUGH!! Then we can protect other girls too!!

Leon and Makoto watched the girls display of affection, and while makoto was thinking it was sweet that they cared about each other so much, Leon only commented that “girls are so weird.”

Everybody else began appearing outside, starting with Mondo, (and taka fussing at him for something. this would probably become commonplace, he thinks.) the nerdy boy, Yasuhiro, the girl with braids, the pretty boy, Sakura, Celeste, and the strange girl. Like clockwork, Kirigiri-Sensei made his way onto the field in no different attire than earlier holding a single baseball. He stood in front of the group of teens, tossing it up and down in his hand. 

“This is a very simple test. Allow me to explain the rules- the first person take this ball from me will get a free 100 on our first test. No big deal, right? I’ll even make it easy for you all and close my eyes.” He did such. The strange girl with the icy glare muttered a “tch… is he serious?” 

He wondered why. 

“You’re allowed to use your quirks as much as you’d like. Now, on the count of three!”

Mondo got himself into a starting position. Sakura’s muscles seemed to move on their own under her skin.

“One!”

Leon stretched out his arm. Chihiro nervously opened her palms in a ready stance. 

“Two!”

Junko smirked, and Ishimaru cleared his throat. Makoto didn’t know what to do besides nervously gulp. He didn’t have a cool pose to use like everyone else. 

“THREE!”

The whole group of kids ran towards Kirigiri-Sensei as if he was the last drop of water in a desert. Mondo split into two Mondo’s, and both of them dived towards the teacher. A slight grin appeared on Kirigiri’s serene face, and before the three of him even got close to him he moved out of the way with ease. He tossed the ball up high in the air, and without even looking at him he flipped the other mondo over on his back and he crumbled into dust. 

The usually confident boy stopped in his tracks and stared, slack jawed. 

He nonchalantly stuck out a hand, and the ball landed safely in his palm. He cocked his head and two small rocks flew by his ear with zipping speed, almost as if… 

… He knew what was going to happen. 

Makoto heard Leon yell “AW, COME ON!” And throw another rock with perfect aim, and his teacher dodged them with ease. 

“THIS IS STUPID! NOBODY’S EVER BEEN ABLE TO DODGE MY THROWS!!”

Makoto turned towards Kirigiri and made a dash towards him, only for Sakura to bolt in front of him and throw herself at his hand which was holding the ball. Her muscles and bones seemed to contort to reach, but once again he tossed it and sidestepped, and dodged the real mondo in the process. It landed safely in his hand, but once secure he raised it in the air to avoid an almost bullet like projectile of red diamonds that landed in the dust. Celestia, the source of the diamonds, huffed, and a large, crystalline heart grew from her forearm and she went to fight head on. Kirigiri only grabbed the heart (which was being used as a shield,) flipped it with the person it was attached to and Celestia landed unceremoniously on the ground. He bent over quickly as a pair of hardly there arms swiped at him from behind. It was hard to make out, but he could tell the reflective almost-human shape was Junko. He could tell, because it immediately yelled “FUCK!” In English with the familiar gyaru-girl lilt of her voice. 

Chihiro wasn’t moving, but Taka skipped beside her, took in a deep breath of air and in the loudest voice Makoto had ever heard-

**“KIRIGIRI-SENSEI! PLEASE HAND OVER THE B-“**

But before he could finish his sentence, the man’s hand had covered Ishimaru’s mouth and he was flung back, knocking the air out of his lungs. Makoto was legitimately in shock, he wasn’t sure if he should even make an attempt. He looked around and saw a few classmates who looked as if they had started that way but decided to not try after the scene unfolded in front of them, including himself. The strange girl, however, didn’t move from her original spot and only watched with her arms crossed next to the pretty boy with glasses. 

Once he looked back he saw that even Hina had been successfully avoided and fell face first in the dirt. He wanted to do something, but he wasn’t sure what… 

But then, it hit him. 

The static in his throat appeared once again and stood his ground, he cupped his hands around his mouth and called out to his classmates. 

** _“EVERYONE! DON'T GIVE UP YET! IT’S THE FIRST DAY, SO DONT LOSE!”_ **

When he opened his eyes, he saw that Kirigiri hadn’t moved towards him and only moved his head in question. A few of them shuddered, which signaled him that it had worked. 

He heard a loud snap from across the field, and his head jerked on its own to Sayaka. 

It must’ve been her quirk activating, because not even their teacher was able to look away from her. His eyes flew open, and in an instant the teacher’s carefully crafted plan seemed to fall apart. Makoto's quirk had caused everyone else to get back up again and for once, Kirigiri-san seemed surprised. Before any of the stronger classmates could get a hand on him, a tiny voice chimed from right behind the teacher. 

“I got it!”

Fujisaki held the baseball up in one hand, and slowly, everyone’s eyes trained onto her. 

It was quiet for a brief moment, but kirigiri-sensei with eyes blown wide open began to clap, slowly, but then with considerable speed. Everyone else joined in, and a bright smile grew on Fujisaki’s face. Makoto and the others ran closer to the center of attention, and frankly he was really proud of her!! 

“DAMN, KID!! I DIDN’T EVEN SEE YA MOVE IN!!” Mondo yelled jovially as he easily picked her up, eluding a squeak from Fujisaki as he put her on his shoulder. “YA GOT SOME SERIOUS GUTS!”

“Hehe, Oowada-kun!! I-I really don’t, but thank you!”

She looked as if she was going to cry again, but for a different reason this time.

Taka joined in, gesturing with a bright smile on his face. “BEING FAST AND SNEAKY IS A VERY GOOD TRAIT TO HAVE AS A HERO! I AM VERY PROUD OF YOU!”

Even the cold girl looked surprised. The other girls were cheering for her, and the boys just stood plain impressed. 

Kirigiri-Sensei’s smooth voice cut through the chaos. 

“ _ Very _ well done, Miss Fujisaki! I don’t usually find myself in situations like these, but when I do it isn’t from a class of first years!”

Braid girl pushed up her glasses and pointed at their teacher. “W-what the hell is that kind of a q-quirk?! I-It was like you knew everything they w-were gonna do before they did it! It was too f-freaky!”

He pointed a finger upward and put a hand on his hip. “Well Miss Fukawa, that’s precisely what my quirk is!” He pointed at his eye and leaned slightly inward. “My quirk is called “premonition.” If I close my eyes and clear my mind, I know  _ exactly  _ what will happen next for around thirty minutes. It’s very useful in fistfights, and it works even better when I  _ expect  _ things will go a certain way. However, what caught me off guard and made me lose focus was Mr. Naegi using his quirk to help you all win. Fantastic work!” He gave a small applause and Makoto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. There were a few “that was you?’s” and a friendly punch on the shoulder from Hagakure. 

“What i'm most surprised about is that Kyoko didn’t want to participate considering how much practice with this little game she’s had.” 

The cold girl, Kyoko, who had been pouting and crossing her arms, suddenly looking up in surprise. Her expression, still unreadable, still didn’t give any specific emotion he could name other than embarrassment.

“Sir, what exactly do you mean by that?” The nerdy boy said while pushing up his glasses, “Have you been her teacher in the past? Moreso, why are you using her first name, hmm?”

He only laughed. 

“Sorry Mr. Yamada, Did I forget to mention that? Kyoko is my daughter! But don’t think I’ll be treating her any differently than my other students, alright?”

Everyone was staring at the younger Kirigiri. She didn’t reply to anything else, and only made her way back to the school with a blank expression. 

Everyone exchanged uncomfortable glances, but their teacher only sighed and characteristically clapped his hands together. 

“Alright everyone! Thank you for following instructions, you can go back and explore your school at your own discretion. Just be in the cafeteria for lunch and be back in class by two. That is all!”

Everyone collected in their own groups and began going back inside. At this point in time however he didn’t really have… a group. 

Sakura was pretty cool though, and she was with Hina and Celeste. He moved closer to the group of girls and asked if he could walk with them, and they kindly obliged. 

UA was starting to feel like a home already. 

——

“So where should we go first?” Hina said, crossing her arms. “The cafeteria is closed now, but I would really like to check out the indoor pool!”

Celeste put a hand to her mouth and looked pointedly at Hina, her red eyes sharply contrasting with her pale skin. “Shouldn’t we at least change out of our gym clothes first? I’d rather not walk around in these for longer than I have to… Ah but, Naegi is with us, and that would be a problem.”

Hina only grinned showing off her sharp canines. “Nah, you’re right!! We should get back into our uniforms! And I don’t swing that way, so Naegi, you’re good to come with us!”

Makoto felt hot under the collar and defensively put up his hands. “D-Did you forget there’s separate locker rooms or something?! I’ll just go in there!”

“Oops! Sorry! Guess I did!”

“Very well then,” Celeste started, “we’ll meet back here once we’ve all finished, yes?”

“That sounds like a plan!”

The boy left to put his blazer and pants back on and when he returned, the girls were already there. The four of them walked around in the halls and down the stairs, observing the building and discussing quirks along the way. 

Hina had something called “Merbody,” which pretty much meant she could create fishlike features anywhere on her person. The downside was that she constantly had dry skin and not enough money for fancy moisturizer.

Sakura’s was a little strange, but impressive nonetheless. She could consciously manipulate her bone and muscle to do what she wished, and her impressive musculature wasn’t even a part of it, she was just really strong! Celestia hadn’t said anything of hers, but she was just a naturally quiet person by default. He didn’t want to push, but with her unique appearance, makoto couldn’t deny he was curious. 

“So uh, Celeste! What can you do?”

“I can do anything any human being can.”

“No like, your quirk.”

A signature giggle escaped her lips. “My apologies. I don’t easily reveal my quirk to others for the sake of my advantage, but since we are  _ classmates _ , I will tell you three.”

Advantage?

“I have a quirk that I call “Gamble.” I can create crystalline structures from my arms, but they all do different things and I cannot control which one I get.”

“OHHH, I get it! Like earlier you tried to shoot diamonds at Kirigiri-Sensei, but he dodged and you went after him with that heart shield instead!” 

“Yes, that would be correct. I wanted to go for a spade, but I had to work with a heart. Such as fate.”

Sakura thoughtfully smiled. “Still, it takes a lot of confidence to rely on your luck like that. I respect it.”

“By the way Celestia,” Makoto interjected, “you… you are Japanese, right? Is Celestia a nickname?”

She just stared at him blankly. “I am Japanese. My name is Celestia Ludenberg. My father is from Germany and my mother is from France. I was raised in Transylvania and came here to study Japanese literature at age seven. That is all.”

“Well… alright then! You do you!”

A lot of the girls here were really strange. 

Hina looked at her watch and emphatically said that it was almost time for lunch. She must’ve been hungry, Makoto didn’t even know what time lunch was specifically. The group went back to the classroom to grab their food, bumping into others on the way, and the boy sat down with his bento at a table with Enoshima, Leon, Hagakure, Chihiro and… Kyoko. 

“NAEGI!! Hey!!” Junko said, her hair clips and pigtails now returned. “We were just talking about how Chi’s like a little bunny because she’s so small and quiet!” 

Chihiro was blushing from her nose to her ears and trying to eat an egg roll while Junko commented on how cute she was. 

“That’s cool! Hey Leon, Hagakure!”

Hagakure put up a sleepy peace sign and a “Wussah dude” escaped his mouth. Kyoko was eating a rice ball on the edge of the table. 

“Teach’s daughter hasn’t said a thing since she got here, dude! I even told her that my quirk was kinda like her dad’s to try and get some conversation goin, but she just looked at me with a really scary face!!” 

He genuinely looked terrified, just how scary could this girl be?!

Makoto, now sitting down lowered his voice so she would hear. 

“Maybe she’s just shy and doesn’t want to talk right now. I know plenty of people who’re like that!”

Hagakure played with one of his dreads. “Yeah, I guess. Still! Y’all seem cool and I wanna get to know you guys!! I’m Yasuhiro Hagakure by the way.”

“Makoto Naegi! Your hair is cool, how’d you do it?” 

“Oh thanks!! My dad’s black so I got the hair from him, n’ doing it like this makes it easier to manage than curls. A lot of people think they’re trashy though, but like, I don’t care, it’s hair dude!!”

“Yeah!! And plus, I’ve seen some crazy hair just because of  _ quirks  _ and they don’t get called trashy!”

Hiro laughs and pats Makoto on the back. “You’re cool, little dude!! What kind of a quirk you got? Sum’n about motivation?”

“It’s called “hope!” When I shout at people to do their best, stuff just kind of… gets better! It’s kinda dumb, I know…”

“Nah man it’s fresh as hell!! Mine is the dumb one!! I can make these crystal ball things and when I break them, the gas in it causes illusions, but like only 30% of the time they’re believable. Also I think I have a second quirk that lets me predict the future! It’s really rusty, but I’m SURE it’s there.”

“Woaahhh, that’s so cool!!”

Before the conversation could progress further, a new voice entered the conversations going on at the table. 

“Hellooooooo, class 1-A!”

Standing at the end of the table with a lunch tray was a very tall and slender boy about the same age as them with messy white hair flowing down to his chin. His eyes looked incredibly tired, but his smile was unsettlingly friendly. 

“Um, hello!” Fujisaki mentioned with a small wave.

“Wow, you guys look really cool, I can’t believe I’m in the same school as you! I can’t wait to see what kinds of amazing abilities you all have! It’s a beautiful display of hope, don’t you think?” 

“I-I’m sorry, but who are you?” Naegi asked. This guy seemed nice, but something about him was off. The boy rubbed the back of his head and gave a gentle carefree laugh. 

“Sorry, where are my manners! I really am trash, huh? I’m Nagito Komaeda, Class 1-B! It’s nice to meet you all!” He set his tray down and began shaking the hands of everyone there. 

“I’m trying to go around and greet everybody before the school year starts! I want to get to know all of you amazing future heroes that I’m lucky enough to be under the same roof as!”

“Hi Komaeda! It’s so nice that you’re doing that, but I’m sure you’re just as amazing!”

Komaeda looked at his hand. “Not really… my quirk is the worst. I’ve dreamed of becoming a heroic symbol of hope for a long time now, which is why I took the chance to audition! I never expected to actually get in!”

Hagakure leaned in as well. “Well like, how bad can a quirk be? Does it make your stomach hurt really bad or whatever?”

He crossed his arms and looked dejected. “I’m just incredibly lucky. It’s more of a curse than a blessing, really. But hey, that’s just how life works, right? There’s always a trade off between bad luck and good luck! You can’t have bad luck without good luck, and you can’t have hope without despai- oW, HEY!”

Suddenly, Nagito was pulled by his ear by a much smaller girl who had suddenly appeared next to him. She had a familiar face, round cheeks framed by pink hair.

“Sorry about that.” She said in a soft tone. “Did Komaeda scare you guys? He just acts like that sometimes.”

Her cute smile didn’t match her actions at all. 

“I-I was just saying hello to our new classmates!”

“Not everybody needs to hear your Hope speech!” She let go of Komaeda’s ear. “I assume you’ve already met this guy. I’m Chiaki Nanami, also in class 1-B!”

Makoto hadn’t fully processed the whole situation yet, but he told her hello anyway. Then, Fujisaki got up from her seat and went to wrap Chiaki in a hug. Chiaki returned it as quickly as Fujisaki gave it to her. 

“Chiaki-Chan!! How’s your first day been!” 

“Ahh Chihiro it’s been great! I like my class and my teacher a lot, I even met a boy in general studies who knew about the game I was playing earlier!”

Leon raised an eyebrow. “Wait, you two know each other?”

Chihiro smoothed our her skirt. “Y-Yeah! Chiaki-Chan is my cousin!” 

Nagito smiled wistfully. “Ah, how lovely! I wish I had a relative here…” 

Makoto released a quiet “ohhhhhh” as the similarities between the two added up. Both had the same bright eyes and similar hairstyles, but Chihiro was more thin and had darker skin than the other girl.

“Hey Chi, do you wanna come sit with me at my table? There’s a boy there who can make really cute anime drawings, I think you’d like him!”

She shook her head, her fluffy hair bouncing along with her. “No, it’s fine! I made some friends of my own too, and I-I wouldn’t wanna interrupt you!”

“Oh, okay then!” She gave her hand a quick squeeze and began making her way back with Komaeda. “I’ll text you later!” 

While Chihiro was still waving her goodbye, their table got a front row seat viewing of Komaeda’s previously mentioned “Luck.” 

He slipped on what looked to be a piece of paper, his food flying out of his hands and going everywhere. There were gasps and a lot of “are you okay’s?” And even a “holy SHIT” from Junko, but when he peeled himself off of the cafeteria floor and analyzed the culprit, he found it to be a 10,000 yen bill.

“Ha! Just another cruel trick of the universe I guess! My… back hurts a lot now though. O-ow.”

Chiaki helped Nagito up and brought him back to the table, and proceeded to give him half her sandwich. 

Makoto wanted to get to know Class 1-B more too, they sure seemed like an interesting bunch. 

——

“Just a few end of day announcements!”

The whole class was back in their seats by now, and the evening sunset began to make the sky glow orange outside. 

“We’ll be moving into dorms tomorrow, but classes will officially start the day after, so don’t slack off! I expect to see you all here bright and prepared on Wednesday! Class dismissed!”

The hustle and bustle of students packing up was so familiar, but now it felt more authentic- more real and less routine. Makoto grabbed his messenger bag, and his eyes fell on Kyoko for a moment and a half. 

Asahina was chattering to Sayaka and Mondo while putting a notebook away. It was almost like this girl had unlimited energy.

“AHHH! This year is going to be so exciting, I just know it!! Imagine all the fun we’ll have!”

“Tch.” A haughty voice interrupted her conversation. “You really think this is going to be  _ fun?” _

Everyone turned to see the pretty boy from earlier who had barely said a word all day. 

“I- huh?”

“This is a school for future professional heroes. You’ll have to deal with death, training yourself to the breaking point, and constantly putting your life on the line. If you’re here to make friends, I suggest you drop out right now.” 

Hina looked absolutely  _ hurt _ . Just who did this guy think he was? Makoto stepped forward and just as he was going to say something, Mondo broke the silence. 

“HEY, ASSHOLE!! YOU SHOULDN’T TALK TO A GIRL LIKE THAT! GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE AND APOLOGIZE RIGHT NOW!”

His curly pompadour was inches from the other guy’s face. Maybe he was pretty on the outside, but the inside was a different story. Makoto balled up his fists and got closer to the situation. 

“Y-Yeah! What’s your problem! And how do you know so much about what heroism is like?!”

His icy blue glare shot directly through Makoto, and between that and the good seven inches of height he had on him, he suddenly felt very small. 

“Does the name “Togami” ring any bells to you?”

“Huh?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

This time it was Yamada’s turn to speak. 

“Oh oh oh! The Togami family is a hero agency that’s been going on for decades! They make tons of money and get invited to a lot of special events! You mean to tell me you’re-“

“ _ Byakuya _ Togami.”

So this guy was the real deal.

He and Mondo were about to say something else when Hina found her courage again. 

“Well I don’t care who you are or who your daddy is!”

Celestia gasped.

“We’re all here for different reasons, and just because it’s gonna be hard sometimes doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the good parts too! Have fun being a boring mc-cynicalpants!”

Byakuya looked a little shocked, but he quickly smirked and grabbed his backpack. 

“Well then, I guess we’ll just have to see what breaks first; Your bones or your sanity. It was a pleasure.”

And with that, he quickly turned on his heels and walked out of the classroom. Hina was going to run after him, but she was held back by Mondo and Sakura holding both of her arms. 

“UGH!!! What a JERK!! I’m just gonna have TWICE as much fun here just because he said that!!”

“Hina,” Sakura started, “do not base your own happiness out of spite or revenge. That is a quick way to lose sight of your end goal.” 

Ishimaru butted in, still moving his hands in every direction. “HOWEVER, I AM VERY PROUD OF YOU FOR STANDING UP FOR YOURSELF ASAHINA! YOU SHOULD BE PROUD AS WELL!!” 

Junko waltzed over to the four of them, her nose wrinkled in disgust. “Honestly I thought he was kinda hot, but now…?”

Sakura and Mondo put Hina back down and she grabbed her square backpack from her chair, throwing it over her shoulder with a huff. 

“Anyway… I live in Tochigi, anyone else taking the train in that direction?”

A few kids raised their hands and Hina gave a toothy smile. She motioned for them to follow and they headed out of the class. Makoto finished packing up and was about to leave when Junko asked if she could walk with him, and he happily obliged. 

The two hadn’t said a word until they made it outside the building. 

“So, Naegi.”

“Yeah?”

“What exactly is the extent of your quirk? Like if you used it on a villain, would they stop what they’re doing and be a good guy orrrr would they just be stronger? I’m curious boo, you gotta tell me!!”

He rubbed the back of his head at the nickname. Enoshima  _ was  _ kind of cute, even if her personality was a little brash. 

“Well um… I haven’t used my quirk on any bad guys except for this one time in middle school.”

“Oooooh!! Spill!”

“There was a villain fighting Knockout outside of the school! And even though I was hurt, I eh… kind of impulsively used my quirk to help… the villain stopped what they were doing I guess, Knockout and oversight talked to me about it afterward.”

Junko pointed a finger at the shorter boy. “Wait- was it a villain with an ice quirk?”

“Yeah!! How did you know!!”

She only smiled, her bangs casting a shadow over her face in the evening sunset. 

“Lucky guess! I remember reading about a similar attack a little while ago, so I just assumed!” 

Makoto was about to respond when he saw a familiar flourish of lavender hair a few steps ahead. He stopped walking and called out to the girl he had wanted to talk to all day. 

“Hey- Kirigiri! That’s your name, right?”

She turned around, her icy gaze softening since the morning prior. 

“Yes?”

He skipped to where he stood next to her and held onto his messenger bag. 

“Um, I’m sorry if this is overstepping, but why didn’t you say anything about your dad being our teacher?”

She sighed and put a lock of hair behind her ear. Enoshima had also joined the group in the time it took him to ask her the question. 

“I assumed someone would ask that eventually. All I’ll say on the matter is that I’m  _ not _ proud to be his daughter, that’s it. Now, is there anything else you wanted to ask or are you going to leave?”

Makoto could feel his face grow hot with embarrassment. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you...”

“It’s fine, it happens all the time.”

Desperate to recover, he blurted out an answer after a considerably awkward silence. 

“Do you want to at least walk home with us? You seem like a pretty cool girl!”

MAKOTO. 

She blinked in surprise. 

“I uh… thank you? I don’t know where you live or if it’s close to my apartment, but I can walk to the station with you if you’d like.”

In an attempt to make things more casual, he extended a hand. “Great!! Cool! I’m-“

“Naegi. I know.”

She pulled out her phone and started typing on the screen and continued walking. 

If only he had some kind of charisma quirk that would make this encounter any less painful… 

He and Enoshima walked along with her down to the road, and she spoke up after putting the device away. 

“I’m glad to see that you took my advice.”

“Eh?”

“Remember the entrance exam?”

“O-oh!! Yeah, you brought me back to my senses when I was all nervous! Thanks for that, by the way! Is your quirk like your dads in that you know what’s gonna happen next?”

A violet gaze fell on his face, coupled with a slight smile. 

“No, I just have very good intuition.”

“UGGHHHH this is so BORING!”

The two of them directed their attention to Junko, whos exclamation was startling to say the least. 

“Enough with the small talk and pussyfooting around, let’s get into some REAL conversation!! Kirigiri, kirigiri, you look like this.” 

Out of nowhere her skin seemed to peel back in scales and her head became an exact replica of Kyoko’s. She had a totally blank expression on her face, and honestly? It was pretty accurate!

“WOAH!”

“You just had your first day at the BEST HERO SCHOOL in all of Japan!! That’s something to talk about! How was your day girlie! Go off!” 

She turned back into her blue eyed blonde haired self and had a silly grin on her face. Kyoko looked like she had seen a ghost. 

“I… I um, didn't know your quirk could do that.”

“Enoshima, that was amazing!!”

She made a “V” with her fingers and stuck out her tongue. “I can do WAY more than just look like a bush! Now tell me Kyo-Chan, what can YOU do? Can you paralyze people with that icy stare of yours?” 

Kyoko blushed and pulled a strand of hair behind her ear. 

“It’s more situational. I’ll have to show you during training one day.”

She had a distant gaze on her face as if she was somewhere else. 

Junko still grinned but didn’t say anything else. The awkward silence from earlier had drifted into a tender, easy quiet in the spring evening, and bits and pieces of conversation were sprinkled in.

Kyoko was odd, but after the small conversation they had, he felt like he knew her better as a person and not an intimidating stranger. The three arrived at the station and parted ways soon after, until only makoto was left alone on the bullet train. The gentle and rhythmic shaking of the car ebbed him into a sleep-like state, as if the previous day was only a good dream. The best part of it, however, was just that-

it wasn’t a dream at all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEWWO!! Long time no chapter! Schools been busy, it started this past August and I haven’t had much time to write! I had a lot of fun with this one, it’s gonna get interesting from here on out >:3c 
> 
> talk to me @maidsonas on tumblr!!!


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